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| Me with my better half Dominic with our son Vincent. Photo courtesy of Sierra Kristen Photography. |
Three days ago I got the call everyone fears...there was an emergency. Dominic suffered a Grand Mal Seizure and was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. I can't remember the last time I was so scared. It was the longest drive of my life. I had no idea what to expect. I didn't know where it happened, how or even why. For all I knew he could have been driving. I remember walking in to the room seeing him on the stretcher hooked up to machines...my son on my hip. He just looked over, smiled, cracked a joke and laughed. That is Dominic to a tee! I have to admit, I was immediately comforted. Vincent, however, was very concerned and a little scared. I was putting on my game face and counting my blessings that his seizure didn't occur while driving and that his co-workers did an amazing job handling the situation and getting him immediate help.
We spent hours in and out of the room, while family visited. He went through several tests including a CT scan and we got news that we weren't expecting...that no one expects. They discovered a mass in his brain. The questions were many, but the answers were few. The hospital was simply not equipped for a diagnosis like Dom's and it was decided that he needed to be brought by ambulance to another hospital who specializes in such things. I made arrangements for my mother to watch our son for the night as I made the trip to MMC in Portland to get more answers. All the time praying it wasn't as serious as my gut was telling me.
It was nice to show up and see so many of his family members there. He is so very loved and adored by so many...he is such an amazing man. I kept my game face on and waited patiently to see him. More tests are done and little by little the pieces were coming together. We were told he had a tumor. Much larger than the prediction at the other hospital. The results went from it the size of a pea to about the size of a golf ball. My heart sank. It was too hard to even fathom. He has never really shown any symtoms and he looked and felt better than ever. The doctors kept our faith up telling us that it appeared to be benign and that we caught it in time to treat it. Any little morsel of good news was gobbled up! It was a relief to know he didn't have cancer and it was a miracle he had the seizure because it's what promted the testing that led to the discovery of the tumor in the first place. A tumor that in a matter of weeks or months could have killed him and potentially without warning.
The hours went by at the hospital and slowly family went home to rest and await updates. We got prepped for the night in the hospital while waiting for more detailed answers and the course of treament. We talked about anything and everything while we waited for his midnight MRI. Partly trying to take our mind of it by keeping our humor in tact, partly trying to grasp the seriousness of the situation and partly beginning to see the big picture. Talks of how grateful we are that he's alive and that he wasn't driving during the seizure where he could have been killed or sadly, also killed someone else. Of how we are glad we are lucky enough to have the option to treat it and that he's going to ultimately be ok. We were smacked with the reality that we aren't invincible and we needed to start getting our affairs in order with a will and life insurance. God forbid if this story played out differently.
The more we talked, the more we both secretly got scared of the little things as well. What should be far from our minds is the cost of this testing and surgery, but there it was...staring us in the face. I had my thyroid removed at the age of 17 due to a hereditary cancer and that cost around $15,000. Imagine the cost of massive brain surgery and a week at the hospital on top of the testing? What will that be...over $100,000? I think it's mostly devastating because we were just starting the "american dream" in buying our own home, but that will have to wait. The health of our family is far more important than keeping up with the Joneses. I'd rather be in debt than lose the love of my life and the best daddy in the world.
Needless to say, after a fairly sleepless night and an EEG test first thing in the morning, we talked to three more doctors who were helpful in helping us understand the course of treatment. Ultimately he would need brain surgery, but we wouldn't get more details until later that evening...so the wait began again. Time passed pretty quickly thanks to friends and family stopping in to entertain us...all the while missing our son. It had been the first time he spent the night away from us since he was born 3 1/2 years ago. So this whole ordeal was tough on us on so many levels. Slowly, but surely, the time approached to have the official consultation with the doctor who would perform his surgery. His parents came with Vincent to hear the news with us.
The doctor told us Dominic has a SEGA (Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma). Actually, he has two, but he said only one is life threatening and the other will be closely monitored. Apparently this slow growing tumor has been there since childhood and has only recently started disrupting the flow of cerebrospinal fluid in his spine and brain. Surgery would consist of removing a large portion of his top left skull where they would need to cut the lining that holds his left and right hemispheres together in order to get down into the left ventricle far enough to remove the tumor in it's entirety. He will lose minor motor skills, but nothing that should greatly impact him...like snapping his fingers in sync. He would be in the hospital about a week and recovery is about a month. Due to his seizure he is on anti-seizure medication and will not be legally allowed to drive for 3 months. There's just so many little things that will effect our day to day life. Little in comparison to the gratefulness and happiness we have to all still be together as a family.
And speaking of grateful...we awoke the following day after coming home to await surgery on September 18th and discovered that many of our friends and family have already began helping us get through this! We got tons of emails, messages, calls and texts from everyone telling us they are praying for us and thinking of us. We have friends starting fundraisers, raffles, benefit dinners and offering to help in any other way possible. This is all just so surreal to us. We are completely speechless and in awe. Neither of us has been on the recipient end of a community coming together to help and support one of their own. It's often the other way around. It's nice to see we are not alone. It's nice to understand how amazing it feels to not only help others, but to have others help you. We honestly don't think a simple "thank you" will suffice is expressing our gratitude...but THANK YOU none-the-less! You have already helped alleviate some of the stress we are currrently experiencing and will continue to experience until we are done making lemonade with the lemons life has recently given us. Our family is strong and determined, but we couldn't do it without the love and support of those in our lives.
Special THANK YOU's go out to:
~ Dominic's place of work, Motor Supply, for holding a Rifle Raffle for us to help raise money for the cost of surgery and to cover us while Dom is out of work for a couple of months. You can get the tickets at any Motor Supply location or by contacting Rick at 207-873-4286.
~ Thank you to Jim's Gun Shop for the Remington 30-06 with scope to be auctioned off.
~ Thanks to Randy of Harry Smith Co for offering to fix any problems that may arise with our vehicle while he's out of work.
~ Thank you to Liz (my hair & makeup artist and good friend) who began a fundraiser for us to help cover expenses as well.
~ And thank you to everyone who has contacted us to wish us well and prayers for Dominic's speedy recovery! I'm sure I'll be making more public thank you's soon!
If I can manage to find the time, I will also try to have a garage sale where I will also be selling off some of my photography props/gear. You can also purchase some of my artwork here. Proceeds from these sales normally go to my non-profit organization (The Hope Captured Foundation) but for the next couple of months they will go towards providing for my family. I promise to keep you all posted when I have a chance :)
In the meantime, if you are or will be a client of mine, please continue reading...
How This Potentially Affects My Clients
I also want to take the time to tell you why it was important for me to tell you all of this. My family is the most important thing in my life. Everything I do is for my boys...everything! Part of that responsibility is being a stay at home mom and running my photography business to help support them. As I take on the responsibility of also caring for Dominic as he recovers I will need the support and understanding of my clients. I am doing everything I can to keep the sessions I currently have as scheduled. I will let you all know individually if I need to clear my calendar for any reason and reschedule your session. As I am the sole income right now, I cannot slack so I will not turn away further sessions if I can prevent it. I just ask that you have patience as I work around the needs of my family.
One of the changes I am making will mainly affect family sessions. Typically, I offer Holiday Mini's in a studio location for families and children, but that will NOT be available this year. Instead, I will be encouraging families to book their session before it gets too cold and snows. My schedule is almost completely full and I am slightly restricted in availability, but I promise I will do everything I can to get everyone in before the snow flies. I am working on getting some outdoor Holiday Mini's available to my clients by offering sessions at a local Christmas Tree Farm where I will decorate a couple of little trees for photos and offer Christmas themed poses as well as traditional ones while you all wear cute sweaters with hats, mittens and scarfs! I will keep you posted on this as well!
So I encourage all of you who want a session with me (especially family photos) please contact me asap and do not hesitate to book! The last thing I want to do is refer my amazingly awesome, loyal clients to someone else. I thank you again from the bottom of my heart. Photography is not only my passion, but my livelyhood. I get great pride in being able to do something I love so much to in turn be able to provide for my family that I love even more. I am Super Mom...hear me roooaaarrrr! :)